Coming into tonight’s game, Binghamton led the AHL in scoring at 3.94 GPG. In their last 10 games, they were 9-1, averaging 4.7 goals per game. The Penguins, meanwhile, were coming in without five of their top 10 scorers due to call-up and injury.

In other words, if you were predicting a Penguins victory tonight, 1-0 would have been a perfectly reasonable score to pick.

But in addition to playing without four of their top eight scorers, the Penguins were also missing four of their top-four penalty killers — Chris Conner, Jayson Megna, Zach Sill and Simon Despres. Binghamton, meanwhile, came in with the league’s third-best power play.So that zero part of the 1-0 prediction didn’t look likely.

Therefore, holding the B-Sens to an 0-for-6 night on the power play, with recent call-ups like Cody Sylvester and Denver Manderson and rookie Nick D’Agostino taking regular PK shifts — in addition to clutch goaltending by Hartzell –was probably the key to the game.

Binghamton had a four-minute advantage in the second period when Brian Dumoulin was called for high-sticking. Hartzell made four saves in the first minute of the PK, then the Penguins didn’t allow a shot for the last three minutes.

With 3:24 left, in a pile-up at the Penguins crease, Hartzell went down in a heap and Philip Samuelsson was called for hooking. A scary moment for coach John Hynes, given the lack of goaltending depth in the organization right now. It turned out to be a cramp, and Hartzell shook it off. But he still had to kill a penalty immediately thereafter. He did, stopping four shots, and that was basically your ballgame.

Harry Zolnierczyk had the game winner. He thought he had it twice.

As the first period expired, a Brian Gibbons shot deflected in off Zolnierczyk. Referee Keith Kaval watched the replay, however, and ruled the puck crossed the line after time expired.

Late in the second period, Zolnierczyk scored one that counted. Samuelsson kept a puck in and sent it to the right-wing corner. Gibbons collected it, juked to the near post and made a cross-crease pass that Zolnierczyk scooped in on his backhand.

On the personnel front, Dominik Uher didn’t play after taking a puck to the face Wednesday night. Carter Rowney was in the lineup in his place, making his Penguins debut.

One last note before I go: Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond and Mike Carman had their mustaches shaved on the ice after the game as part of a Movember fund-raising effort for men’s health issues. Apparently, the beard trimmer died during Leblond’s shave, but he finished the job once he got to the locker room. He said he couldn’t wait to get rid of the mustache, largely because his wife hated it, but more than that, he wanted to thank fans for contributing to the cause.

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins have nine players with double-digit points this season, which is a pretty healthy number before Thanksgiving. No team in the AHL’s Eastern Conference has more.

Unfortunately for the Penguins, though, five of those nine scorers weren’t in the lineup tonight in Glens Falls, four due to call-up and one due to injury.

Perhaps it’s no surprise, then, that the Penguins turned in a meek offensive performance in a 3-1 loss to the Adirondack Phantoms. Their only goal came from Tom Kostopoulos on a five-on-three power play and there was a 20-minute span through the second period and into the third where they didn’t record a single shot.

The Penguins probably had their best chance to gain an advantage in the game in the first period. Adirondack took five minor penalties, compared to one for the Penguins, but the Penguins could only manage a 1-1 tie by intermission.

The Phantoms connected on their lone power-play chance of the period when Brandon Manning scored on a shot from the blue line past a Kris Newbury screen about five minutes in. The Penguins only scored when they had a two-man advantage, when Kostopoulos cashed in the rebound of a Harry Zolnierczyk shot to make it 1-1 at 17:41.

Momentum swung in favor of the Phantoms in the second period. The Phantoms went on the power play three times, outshot the Penguins 15-5 and scored two even-strength goals.

The goal that turned out to be the game winner, at 6:57, was a funky one. Manning took a shot from the blue line that went wide and bounced off the end boards to Rob Bordson near the left post. Bordson shuffled it into the crease, where it hit goalie Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers and popped into the air. Petr Straka slammed it home with a baseball swing. The referee nearest the net immediately signaled no goal due to a high stick on the puck, but after a discussion with the other three officials, he ruled it a good goal.

From the angle I saw, it looked like Straka made contact below the crossbar and it was a good call.

Adirondack added a critical insurance goal 2:46 before intermission when the Penguins got a little scrambly and Ben Holmstrom drove down the left wing and centered to Chris VandeVelde in the slot for a goal.

The Penguins had some chances to get back in the game in the third. Nick D’Agostino hit a post with a one-timer from the right faceoff dot with 14:17 left and goalie Yann Danis made a nice glove save on Scott Harrington from the high slot with 4:34 to go, but no comeback was in the offing.

Here’s a recap of the personnel moves since WBS last played a game Saturday. Zach Sill and Andrew Ebbett were called up Sunday. Chris Conner, Jayson Megna and Simon Despres were promoted to Pittsburgh today.

WBS filled those vacancies with Brian Gibbons, who was back from a five-game NHL call-up, Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond, who was back from a six-game injury absence, and recent Wheeling call-ups Cody Sylvester, Denver Manderson and Dustin Stevenson, who were healthy scratches Saturday.

That’s life in the AHL and no one’s going to shed any tears for the Penguins, but sometimes it takes some time for guys to adjust to new, expanded roles, and that might be something that hurt WBS tonight.

The Penguins could be without another forward this weekend as well, as Dominik Uher took a puck to the face in the second period and did not return. The most recent Wheeling call-up, Carter Rowney, was a healthy scratch tonight, so I’d expect him to make his AHL debut Friday against Binghamton if Uher can’t go.

Before I go, some holiday programming notes. First and foremost, scroll down a bit and check out the first episode of the Penguins Insider Podcast. It’s a new thing we’re doing this year. Hope you like it. Second, our newspaper went to press in the middle of the afternoon today in order to get all those great Black Friday ads inserted, so if you’re looking for game coverage, check after the jump for my regular game report. In the paper, there’s a story about Deslauriers and his league-leading 10 wins instead.

On Friday, online and in the paper, I’ll have my regular Friday Morning faceoff notebook with items on Tom Kuhnhackl’s famous father and Sill’s short stay in the AHL.

Check back for the next blog update after Friday’s home game with Binghamton. In the meantime, Happy Thanksgiving.

Today, The Citizens’ Voice is proud to introduce a new staple of its Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins coverage.

It’s called the Penguins Insider Podcast, and it’s a weekly show co-hosted by Penguins beat writer Jonathan Bombulie and sports copy editor Michael Cignoli. The two of them will talk about all of the latest news surrounding the Penguins, preview the team’s upcoming games and keep an eye on the prospects who are trying to play their way into the National Hockey League with Pittsburgh. You’ll also hear interviews with a different Penguins player or coach every week. And be sure to stick around for the end of the show for Jonathan’s personal segment, where he offers his take on the hot-button issues in hockey — or, really, whatever he feels like talking about.

For this inaugural edition, it’s the role of fighting in the sport. You’ll also learn what recently called-up center Andrew Ebbett learned from Teemu Selanne, and hear Jonathan and Michael’s thoughts on the Penguins through the first quarter of the season. The debut episode is launching today, ahead of the official start of the second quarter of the 76-game season, but look for future episodes on Fridays. You can listen to it either by clicking the link below or by hitting the play button on the podcast player at the right of the blog.

All kinds of roster moves and potential roster moves today at all levels of the Penguins organization. Let’s start at the top.

– LW Tanner Glass will miss 3-4 weeks with a broken hand, which comes on the heels of the announcement that LW Beau Bennett is out 8-10 weeks with a broken bone in his hand/wrist area. Also, D Paul Martin is out tomorrow with a lower-body injury. The length of his absence has not yet been announced.

– RW Matt D’Agostini is on waivers. If he clears by noon tomorrow, he could be assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. D’Agostini has no goals and an assist in eight games and is playing on a $550,000 one-way contract. If he is assigned to WBS, he could be an impact player while he gets his game back in order. He had back-to-back 20-goal seasons for Hamilton in his first two pro seasons from 2006-08.

– C Brian Gibbons was sent down to WBS. I thought he looked very good in his first NHL action, showing speed and versatility and putting up a couple of points in five games. Gibbons is tied for fourth in the AHL in scoring, so his return would obviously make a big impact.

– The combination of those last two notes lead me to believe that more transactions are on the way. Without Gibbons, D’Agostino, Glass, Bennett and injured RW Chuck Kobasew, Pittsburgh only has 11 healthy forwards, and that includes recent call-ups C Zach Sill and C Andrew Ebbett. They could just dress D’Agostini even though he’s been waived and that would give them 12, but I think another shoe will probably drop.

– If a forward does go up, I suspect it will be someone who has already played in the NHL this year. LW Harry Zolnierczyk, LW Chris Conner, RW Jayson Megna and Gibbons are the leading candidates.

– A call-up on defense wouldn’t surprise me either. In fact, the signs pointing to a Simon Despres promotion are pretty strong. With Martin and Rob Scuderi out, Pittsburgh could use a left-handed D who can move the puck, since their fifth and sixth D as it stands — Robert Bortuzzo and Deryk Engelland — are righties who don’t specialize in moving the puck. Despres not only fits that bill, he also has been playing some really good hockey for several weeks now. He’s tied with Gibbons for the AHL lead with a plus-13 rating, and that stat is not deceptive in this case.

– At Coal Street, LW Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond and D Peter Merth were back at practice today and they weren’t wearing red no-contact jerseys. That leads me to believe they’re close to returning from injury. C Nick Drazenovic and D Reid McNeill remain out.

– The Penguins called up RW Carter Rowney from the ECHL’s Wheeling Nailers as well. Rowney, an undrafted rookie, is off to a strong start with the Nailers. He has six goals, 13 points and a plus-9 rating in 15 games. He’s a power-forward type with good skill and good size.

– Add all that up and WBS has 15 healthy forwards and eight healthy defensemen on the roster. Again, this points to further movement, whether up to Pittsburgh or down to Wheeling.

Four other notes before I go:

– J.C. Lipon of St. John’s was suspended two games for the check to the head of LW Tom Kuhnhackl he delivered in Saturday’s game. Kuhnhackl seemed fine at practice this week. His dad, Erich Kuhnhackl, has been in town for the last 10 days or so, and the elder Kuhnhackl was at practice today. He’s a German hockey legend, you know. More about that at some point this week. Probably in my weekly Friday Morning Faceoff notebook.

– Wheeling C Zack Torquato was named ECHL player of the week today. He had three goals and four assists as the Nailers went 2-0-1 last week.

– The Rick DiPietro comeback (or whatever you want to call it) with the Charlotte Checkers looks to be over. Not surprising, since he was 0-4 with a 5.18 GAA and .846 save percentage.

– The debut of the Penguins Insider Podcast is less than 24 hours away. Keep an eye on this space for it.

At practice on Monday morning at the Toyota SportsPlex*, not one of them was anywhere to be found. Gibbons, Ebbett and Sill are in Pittsburgh and Drazenovic is out with an injury. So needless to say, as the Penguins prepare for three games in four days sandwiched around Thanksgiving this week, their center depth will be tested.

How did the Penguins fill those holes? They bumped Mike Carman, who was a healthy scratch for the opener, up the depth chart. They called up Denver Manderson from Wheeling. (The story I’m working on today focuses on Manderson, so check that out tomorrow.) They moved Jayson Megna and Adam Payerl, who played center a lot before turning pro and a little as rookies last year, from right wing to the middle. And there you have it, something like this:

Carman is the only lefty out of the four centers, which is unusual, but probably neither here nor there.

If the Penguins needed more depth at center, Dominik Uher and Cody Sylvester have played in the middle before. Also, Zack Torquato isn’t on an AHL deal with the Penguins, but he’s off to an excellent start for the Wheeling Nailers.

The only extra at practice today was the seventh defenseman (Nick D’Agostino or Dustin Stevenson), so there could be a call-up at forward from the Nailers (Carter Rowney and Anton Zlobin come to mind), but it’s not a dire necessity.

If you run out of centers, you can always move a wing to the middle. If you run out of goalies, you have no such luxury.

The Penguins are, coach John Hynes said, considering whether to try to acquire a goalie in the wake of the suspension of Peter Mannino last week.

“It’s being discussed,” he said. “At this time of year, it’s a process. You want to make sure you don’t make rash decisions. You want to make sure, as an organization, that we do what’s best in finding the right type of situation rather than just reacting.”

WBS is perfectly fine with Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers, who is 10-3-2, and Eric Hartzell, who impressed in his AHL debut, a 5-2 win over St. John’s on Saturday, for right now. But it’s hardly an ideal situation.

“Yeah, it is a concern. You’re one injury away from being short,” Hynes said. “First and foremost, you worry about Wheeling. They’re our direct feeder system and you want to have a good situation down there, guys playing on a good team. That’s part of the development process, having good environments and having good teams, and your goaltender has to give you that chance. That’s first and foremost.”

One plug before I go: The debut of the Penguins Insider Podcast should be posted here on the blog some day this week. Citizens’ Voice sports copy editor/podcast host Michael Cignoli and I discuss the WBS Penguins through the first quarter of the season, look ahead to upcoming games and play a chat I had with center Andrew Ebbett before he got called up to Pittsburgh. Be on the lookout for that, probably Wednesday.

The WBS Penguins have had some losses this year, four in regulation and two in the shootout, to be precise — but none like this. Most of those six losses have been attributable, in whole or in part, to a penalty/penalty killing issue.

Let me hit a quick stat here to prove that point. Before tonight, the Penguins were 6-0 when giving up no power-play goals, 5-1-1 when giving up one and 0-2-1 when giving up two or more.

Tonight they only gave up two power plays and St. John’s didn’t score on either. Tonight was one of those old fashioned, didn’t-finish-your-chances-against-a-hot-goalie losses.

The hot goalie in question was Eddie Pasquale, who was good in a playoff series against the Penguins in 2012 and good again tonight.

I used the following paragraph in my game story tonight to describe the goings-on: “The Penguins had twice as many shots as the Ice Caps, but goalie Eddie Pasquale made 31 saves to lead his team to a 2-1 victory at the Mohegan Sun Arena.”

I reprint that paragraph here as a public service to all the math teachers out there. Yes, you may use that as an algebra problem, with the question being, “What was the shot total for both teams in the game?”

But I digress. One thing I found pretty interesting post-game. I would give the Penguins a hot-goalie, get-out-of-jail-free card tonight, but coach John Hynes didn’t.

“The difference between winning and losing is converting on the chances versus just getting them and saying, ‘We think it was good,’” Hynes said. “It wasn’t good enough tonight.”

The only time the Penguins beat Pasquale was in a two-on-two situation on the rush in the first period. Harry Zolnierczyk went to the left post and Jayson Megna flew up the right wing and hit him with a pinpoint pass.

St. John’s tied the score in the first on a Travis Ehrhardt slap shot from the top of the left circle and took the lead for good when Patrice Cormier barged up the left wing and steered in a shot in the second.

The Penguins thought they tied the score for a moment in the third when Tom Kostopoulos lifted a rebound over Pasquale, but referee Trent Knorr ruled the shot hit the crossbar. Neither Hynes nor Kostopoulos disputed that call after the game.

The Penguins also had three power plays in the third period, including 32 seconds of five-on-three time, but didn’t score. Chris Conner had a partial breakaway, but couldn’t slide a puck past Pasquale with a defenseman on his back with 9:16 left.

On the personnel front, Zach Sill was sent down by Pittsburgh today, but he didn’t return in time for the game. He was in the locker room afterwards. The Penguins scratched Nick D’Agostino and Bobby Farnham and gave the recently called up Wheeling trio — LW Cody Sylvester, C Denver Manderson and D Dustin Stevenson — its first WBS home game. Sylvester took some shifts with Andrew Ebbett and Kostopoulos on the second line in the third period, so that’s a vote of confidence for him, I’d say.

I’ll be a healthy scratch tomorrow as the Penguins host St. John’s again because a friend is getting married in Philly. Colleague Evan Korn will get the start instead. You can follow him on Twitter at @CVEvanKorn for updates.

Tom Kostopoulos was playing in his 412th AHL game tonight. Cody Sylvester was playing in his first.

They both scored goals, staking the WBS Penguins to a 2-0 lead en route to a 3-1 victory at Rochester. The Penguins have won three in a row and are 5-2-1 in November.

The Penguins were buzzing throughout much of the first period, but didn’t solve goalie Matt Hackett until there were 3.6 seconds left before intermission. Kostopoulos camped out at the top of the crease at the end of a power play and tipped in a Scott Harrington point shot.

I have a story coming out on Sunday all about getting to the front of the net and how Kostopoulos is very good at it. Tonight’s goal — hell, most of his 141 AHL goals — made me glad I’m writing that.

Anyway, Sylvester and fellow recent Wheeling call-up Denver Manderson combined to give the Penguins a 2-0 lead early in the second. Manderson pressured Jamie Tardif on the forecheck, and his bad pass banked to Sylvester alone in the slot. He snapped a nifty shot past Hackett. Sylvester played left wing and Manderson center on the fourth line with right wing Adam Payerl. They were effective much of the night.

Kevin Porter scored a power-play goal to make it 2-1 a few minutes later. The Penguins protected the lead very well in the third period, allowing only seven shots. Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers made 23 saves to win his third straight start.

Jayson Megna added an empty netter in the final minute. He’s scored in each of the three games he’s played since being sent down from Pittsburgh last Thursday. The Penguins have won all three of those games.

It was the second straight game where the Penguins clamped down in the third period to protect a 2-1 lead that turned into a 3-1 edge when Megna scored late. The same script played out last Saturday against Hershey.

The Penguins have outscored their opponents 26-9 in the third period this season, which is impressive. They built that stat early in the season by scoring a lot in the third period, which probably isn’t sustainable over the long haul. The bounces even out and whatnot. But this third-period clampdown to protect a lead the Penguins have shown in the last two games, that’s a tool they’d really like to have in their toolbox as this season rolls on.

As far as I can tell, there isn’t really anything more to the Peter Mannino suspension than meets the eye.

The Penguins sent Mannino down to the ECHL’s Wheeling Nailers and called up rookie Eric Hartzell in his place on Monday. Mannino didn’t report and was therefore suspended by the Penguins.

He can’t sign with another team unless the Penguins agree to release him. He could retire.

I think the Penguins were at least a little surprised by the situation for a couple reasons.

First, Mannino could have expected an ECHL trip would be in the cards when he signed an AHL deal in July. The Penguins already had Fleury, Vokoun, Zatkoff and Hartzell on NHL contracts. When Vokoun had his blood clot, Zatkoff moved up to No. 2 and WBS signed Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers, but that didn’t change Mannino’s spot. He was still competing with Hartzell for the No. 4 spot in the organization. Second, there is no indication Hartzell is up in the AHL for good. He has to earn that spot. I think he will, but he very well might not. He’s talented but still just a rookie.

Regardless, here’s the fallout. Not much immediately in Wilkes-Barre. Deslauriers-Hartzell is a perfectly fine AHL tandem. But an injury, in Pittsburgh or Wilkes-Barre, would be a problem. Also, Wheeling is in a tough spot. They have Montreal Canadiens prospect Mike Condon, who has been excellent, but their options are limited beyond that.

The timing of the suspension was interesting in this sense: Brad Thiessen was released by his Finnish team today.

From what I can gather, that is strictly coincidence.

Thiessen was signed by HIFK Helsinki to be the No. 1 goalie, but he was beaten out by homegrown 18-year-old Ville Husso. The team granted Thiessen his release so he could seek playing time elsewhere.

There is no reason to believe the Penguins have so much as contacted Thiessen. He may very well have another European deal already lined up. But hey, the Penguins have his phone number. Never say never.

Other other bit of news today: Bobby Farnham was suspended one game for an illegal hit to the head in Friday’s game at Syracuse. I didn’t see the hit and there was no penalty called on the play. Presumably, the Crunch sent the tape to the league to set this process in motion. Farnham has 23 fighting majors and 306 PIMs in 76 games with the Penguins, but this is his first suspension.

With Farnham out, Drazenovic and Leblond hurt and Sill and Gibbons up in Pittsburgh — not a bad debut for the kid, eh? — WBS is down to 12 healthy forwards. Unless there’s another move before tomorrow night, centers Cody Sylvester and Denver Manderson are on track to make their AHL debuts at Rochester.

A lot of news today. Put my next Sporcle quiz on hold. We’ll get to that later this week.

– Brian Gibbons was called up today. According to reports out of Pittsburgh, he’s skating on the third line with Jussi Jokinen and Brandon Sutter tonight. Pittsburgh needs a spark, especially on the third line, and Gibbons, who is third in the AHL with 22 points in 15 games, fits the bill.

Gibbons’ story is a remarkable one. An undersized, undrafted third-year pro out of Boston College, he’s been a good AHL player for the last two seasons, showing some penalty-killing ability and speed, but putting up only 30 points in 70 games both years. He was the kind of player who was good for an odd-man rush a game, thanks to his speed, but he didn’t finish many of them. It was frustrating for fans. (Think Rico Fata or Konstantin Koltsov).

This year, he’s been one of the most dangerous scorers in the league, especially shorthanded. Coach John Hynes said it’s because of a new-found consistency in all areas of the game — effort, focus, execution and the willingness to stick his nose in and play a gritty game. Whatever the reason, it’s safe to say he’s been WBS’ best player this season.

– Gibbons will be the third WBS player to get his first NHL call-up this season — fifth if you count Jeff Zatkoff and Olli Maatta, but those were different circumstances — so that’s the theme of the story I’m working on today. Telling a player he got called up to the NHL for the first time has to be one of the best parts of an AHL coach’s job.

– Gibbons and Zach Sill are up, Nick Drazenovic didn’t practice today and is day to day with an unspecified injury and Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond has yet to resume skating since suffering an upper-body injury. That leaves WBS with 11 healthy forwards and six healthy D heading into a game at Rochester on Wednesday night. Hynes said to expect a call-up, probably a centerman.

If a center indeed gets the call, you’d put Cody Sylvester, Denver Manderson and Zach Torquato at the top of the list. If WBS decides to switch some of a couple wingers with center experience (Jayson Megna, Adam Payerl, Dominik Uher) to the middle, that opens up a bunch of call-up options, from Carter Rowney and Anton Zlobin to Chaz Johnson and Jack MacLellan. If I were making the call, strictly based on what I saw in training camp, it would be Sylvester. He’s a competitive guy with a nose for the net. But take that with a grain of salt, since I haven’t seen the Nailers play this year.

EDIT: Make that four call-ups. WBS called up C Denver Manderson, C Cody Sylvester, D Dustin Stevenson and G Eric Hartzell from the Nailers and sent G Peter Mannino down in Hartzell’s place. The more I think about it, Manderson and Sylvester could both play Wednesday. Payerl, Megna and Uher have played center, but not this year. So that leaves Andrew Ebbett and Mike Carman as the only true centers on the roster. Stevenson is a plus-9 for Wheeling, so he was an obvious call for defense depth.

The Hartzell situation is a little more interesting. He’s 2-2 and with a 2.58 GAA with Wheeling, but his save percentage is a healthy .922 and two starts back, he pitched a 37-save shutout against Elmira. I know I’m curious to see how he does in a real AHL game. Perhaps the decision makers feel the same way.

Speaking of the Nailers, to some fun and games. The team sent out a press release the other day announcing Zach Sill as the 43rd former Nailer or Thunderbird to reach the NHL. (The team actually said 45, but that included a coach and a broadcaster, so I kept it to 43.)

A winner of first-place honors in the blogging category of the 2012 Pennsylvania Associated Press Managing Editors awards, Penguins Insider was created to give local hockey fans an interactive, in-depth way to follow the team they so passionately support. The blog's author, beat writer Jonathan Bombulie, has been covering the team since its inception in 1999. Contact him at jbombulie@aol.com

Visit the WBS Penguins page at citizensvoice.com for Penguins stories, photos and more.